
Latest Terrorism Monitor Articles

Al-Qaeda in Yemen Supports Southern Secession
Exploiting ongoing unrest in Southern Yemen, al-Qaeda’s leader in Yemen released an audio statement on May 13 entitled “To Our People in the South,” in support of southern Yemeni efforts to secede from Yemen. The audiotape was released through the jihadi media outlet al-Malahim (shmo5alislam.net,... MORE

Security Threats to Yemen Create Dilemma for United States
Many American political analysts think that the problem the new American administration faces in Yemen relates mainly to the fate of the 100 Yemeni detainees presently incarcerated in Guantanamo. Their homeland cannot guarantee that these individuals, if repatriated, will not become a renewed terrorist threat... MORE

Al-Qaeda and the Iraqi Resistance Seek to Win Over Fighters of the Awakening Councils
After a gradual handover process, the Sunni fighters of the Sahwa (Awakening) Councils have come under the responsibility of Iraq’s Shi’a-led central government. From their emergence two years ago until recently, the Sahwa councils, which cooperated with Coalition forces to drive al-Qaeda out of their... MORE

Al-Qaeda Investigation Raises Questions on British Counterterrorism Cooperation with Damascus
In response to reports appearing in the British media, the Syrian embassy in London released a statement on May 10 regarding two British nationals who were arrested in Damascus on March 17, Maryam Kallis and Yasser Zahur Ahmed. According to the statement, “interrogations indicated that... MORE

Indian Army Reacts to the Taliban Threat
For India’s military, the Taliban is a threat looming large on the horizon. The perception of the Taliban making inroads to India has increased since December 2008, when Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mahsud vowed to fight alongside the Pakistan army if a conflict broke... MORE

The FM Mullahs and the Taliban’s Propaganda War in Pakistan
The scenic Swat valley is thundering with both aerial bombardments and fiery Taliban FM radio sermons. In a large-scale military operation dubbed Operation Rah-e-Raast (Operation Straight Path), the Pakistani army is hitting Taliban targets with gunship helicopters while the Taliban respond with AK-47s and their... MORE

Europe’s Oldest Terrorist Organization: The Basque ETA Marks 50 Years of Operations
On a December morning in 1973, an ear-splitting blast ripped through the fashionable Salamanca district of Madrid, shaking the walls of this reporter’s home. The first frenzied reports on the Spanish state-controlled media spoke of a gas main explosion. A journalist’s instinct said this was... MORE

Jihadis Discuss Plans to Seize Pakistan’s Nuclear Arsenal
Urged by a senior al-Qaeda ideologue to take over Pakistan, members of jihadi internet forums have begun to examine the possibility of controlling Pakistan’s nuclear weapons (al-faloja1.com, April 24). At the same time, jihadis continue to collect information on nuclear facilities around the globe, especially... MORE

Iraq’s Muqtada al-Sadr Seeks Regional Influence with Visit to Ankara
Muqtada al-Sadr, the young Iraqi Shi’a cleric who has been studying to become an Ayatollah in the Iranian city of Qom since 2007, recently visited Turkey in a trip whose purpose is reported to have been a series of talks on Iraqi-Turkish security issues (al-Jazeera,... MORE

The Swat Conflict: An Arc of Instability Spreading from Afghanistan to Central Asia and Xinjiang
In the wake of a controversial deal that allowed the implementation of Islamic law in Pakistan’s Swat region and the establishment of what appeared to be a de facto Taliban state, Islamabad has responded with force after the Swat-based militants appeared determined to spread their... MORE